What are the themes of this show?
The human condition, of course. I'm very interested in how people live and where they live, what they cook, what they ate today, their regimes, their fears, their way of bringing up children, their attitude toward old age, their favorite music. I'm awestruck by the range of my show. I don't think of it as a show, by the way. I think of it as a conversation between two people, where one of them is a lot more interesting than the other. People always say their show is "a meditation" on something. So this is a bit of a meditation on gender and sexuality and death. I'm here to bring a bit of laughter that I think you need, some kind of vitamin that is missing from your emotional diet.

Your daughter is with you this time.
My daughter, she is on stage with me, but it's only at the insistence of her therapist. Valmai is a problem, really. She is dysfunctional, she's given me a lot of trouble, and she's doing what is called community service. So I get her to clean the stage, but she intrudes on the show. I have no control over her. And I'm afraid she even sings an item! The audience is very sweet, and they pretend to enjoy it. I've discussed this at meetings of Megastars Anonymous, and they tell me I'm enabling her. That's the latest buzzword. I'm enabling this girl just by being a loving mother.

Your hair is still colored lilac?It's my natural color. I did dye it for years, but now I'm letting my own color grow out. I'm very proud of it because I'm in the Guinness book of records, the only woman on the planet with a purple bikini line.

Cross Town Traffic at the Wilbur When bespectacled alt-comic icon David Cross paid a visit to the Wilbur Theatre last October, he giddily tore Boston “a new asshole” — but, hey, at least he was kind enough to have “stitched that new asshole up with jokes.”

Jen Kirkman works the laugh track During her more lucid moments, the Newton-born Kirkman writes for TV shows including the NBC sit-com Perfect Couples , is a regular contributor to E!'s Chelsea Lately , and does stand-up across the country. She returns to Boston with the Women in Comedy Festival March 9-13.

Funny you should say that I'm pretty confident in saying that humor is probably one of the key things that separates us humans from the rest of the animal kingdom.

Jesse Eisenberg and Nick Swardson get to work Following his star turn as a ruthless, if socially awkward, billionaire in David Fincher's The Social Network, Jesse Eisenberg returns to the screen as a downtrodden pizza delivery boy-man in Ruben Fleischer's 30 Minutes or Less. Nick Swardson plays Eisenberg's tormentor.

Dane Cook is funny There are two things that non-comedians feel the need to tell me when discussing comedy. One is "Bob Saget is filthy." The other is "Dane Cook is not funny."

Interview: Kathy Griffin "I think Ryan Seacrest and Oprah will finally be together, and it will be like one of those great '70s cover-up movies and I'm playing the body."

Northern exposure While New York is grittier, Los Angeles juicier, and Boston is wicked smahter, for some odd reason it is Montreal that, for two weeks every summer, becomes the epicenter of the comedy universe.

Special delivery For the last two decades, comedian and SNL alum Norm MacDonald has been firing off on pop culture and sharing life observations with his disarming deadpan delivery and signature subtleties through a stoner Canadian accent and nasal drawl.

AFTER IMAGES | May 28, 2010 Karen Finley won’t be naked, or covered in chocolate. Candied yams will not be involved. If there are neighborhood morality-watch squads in Salem, they’ll have the night off.

INTERVIEW: SARAH SILVERMAN | April 23, 2010 Recently, “Sarah” — the character played by Sarah Silverman on Comedy Central’s The Sarah Silverman Program — was upset because in today’s world it just wasn’t safe anymore for children to get into strangers’ vans.

TATTOO YOU | April 06, 2010 Dr. Lakra is no more a real doctor than is Dr. Dre or Dr. Demento. The 38-year-old Mexican tattoo artist’s real name is Jerónimo López Ramírez. As for “lakra,” it means “delinquent.” Or so I thought.

INTERVIEW: DAMON WAYANS | February 16, 2010 "Right now, my intent is not to offend. I just want to laugh. I want to suspend reality."